Hacker News Reader

I'm an Irish redhead who lived in Australia for a decade, doing lots of outdoor sports.

To solve your problem: Put sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat on. Go outside.

Slip on sunglasses, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat!

And take your canvas bags!

All sources I've read seemed to indicate that white people only need a few minutes a day of direct sun exposure to the entire body to get sufficient vitamin D. How long does it take you to burn?

I'm under the impression that depending on your skin type you can burn within a few minutes.

I was under the impression that you can build up your tolerance to the sun by slowly increasing your exposure to it each day. Does this not apply for certain skin types?

For some skin types the effect is so small that you can just not take it into account. Especially people with red hair are known to have these skin types (hair and skin color are both dependent on malanin)

My understanding is that taking supplements isn't enough; you still need to go out in the sunlight for the vitamin D to activate.